Waterproof watch setting means



March 1, 1949.

L. H. BROWN 2,462,839

WATERPROOF WATCH SETTING MEANS Filed July 17, 1946 5 H M 1H3SELF-WINDING MWEMENfi M llll I IN 6 4 jwuiniob LEZU HEIRQWN arty/$1411Patented Mar. 1, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WATERPROOF WATCHSETTING MEANS Leo H. Brown, Glenville, Conn.

1 4.6, Serial No. 684,145

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 3700. G. 757) Application July 17,

3 Claims.

The invention described herein may be manufact-ured and used by or forthe Government for governmental purposa without the payment to me of anyroyalty thereon.

My invention relates to a new and useful improvement in timepieces andis designed to provide a timepiece which is quite impervious to moistureby reason of the fact that its movement and indicating hands arehermetically sealed in a casing provided with a transparent portionthrough which the hands are observable, the movement being of theconventional self-winding type to eliminate a winding stem. Since thehands are within the sealed casing, and no actuating mechanism forsetting the hands may be provided which are actuated from without thecase, the timepiece is set by the adjustment of the indicia of hours andminutes relative to the observed position of the hands at the time ofsetting.

While I have illustrated in the drawing filed herewith and havehereinafter fully described one specific embodiment of my invention, itis to be distinctly understood that I do not consider my inventionlimited to said specific embodiment but refer for its scope to theclaims appended hereto.

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of my improved timepiece.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, in the directionof the arrows.

As illustrated in the drawing, my timepiece has a case comprising acylindrical wall l with an interior peripheral flange 2; at its upperend and an exterior peripheral flange 3 at its lower end, a bottom coverplate A seated on flange 3 and hermetically sealed thereto bylow-temperature solder 4a, and a transparent top cover plate seated onflange 2 and hermetically sealed thereto by any suitable sealing medium5a. Suitably mounted in this cas is a conventional selfwinding movement6 having an indicator li-a observable through plate '5. As movement brequires no winding stem, it can be sealed in the case, the degree ofwinding of the main spring by the functioning of the movement beingshown by indicator E-a. The movement ii actuates the hour hand H, theminute hand M and the second hand S, disposed above the top 5-4) of themovement 5 and below the plate 5 of the case, and observable through thetransparent plate 5. It will be noted that the hands H, M and S have theconventional relative lengths. Disposed on the upper face of the topplate 5 is a disc 1 having a central circular area l--a, an innerannulus 'l--b and an outer annulus l-c the annuli 1-b and "5c beingconcentric with the area l-a. The area l-o and the annulus l-c aretransparent. The annulus .3 may be either opaque or transparent. Iheannulus 'lb bears the proper indicia l';:Z i the hours of day and nightand quarterly divisions thereof. A lug l-e is provided on disc '5, bywhich disc 1 can be rotatably adjusted. It i be understood that disc 1is formed or" a t .nsparent material such as glass or plastic t at theannulus 5-2) as well as indicia l---:Z, formed th reon by engraving,etch ng, pain g or in any other suitable manner. Disposed on t: upperface or" the disc '5 is a ring 3 bearing the :er indicia El-a of theminutes of the hour and K conds of the minute. A radial lug fi-bprovided on ring 8 by which ring 8 can be rotatably adjusted. It will benoted (Fig ure 2) that the plate 5, the disc l and the ring 8 are ofuniform diameter. To retain the disc I and ring 8 on the plate 5, thereis provided a re tainer ring 9 threaded on the upper end of the wall land having an interior peripheral flange !i--a seating on the upper faceof the ring 8 when the ring 9 is set up on the wall 5. To mount thetimepiece on a wrist strap, a spring ring H3 is provi ed into which thecase can be fitted, the ring it being positioned about he wall 2 abovethe upper edge of the flange i and below the lower edge of the ring 9which is appli d to the case after the case is received in the ring it).Arms 5 I extend from ring it to receive thereon the ends of the strapit.

From the foregoing description of the details of constr .ction of myimproved timepiece, its use and operation will be obvious. Theconventional self-winding movement t is wound by the oscillation of thetimepiece when it is worn on the wrist of the user. As the indicator 6-ais observable through the transparent plate 5, the user can determinethe degree of the winding of the main spring of the movement 6 and canproduce any required winding by shaking the timepiece. When it isnecessary to set the timepiece, the ring 8 is slightly rotated torelieve pressure on disc '5 and ring 0. The ring 3 is then rotated bymeans of pressure applied to lug 8-1), to bring the proper minuteindicia 8-a into alignment radially with the minute hand M. The disc 1is then rotated by pressure on lug 'l-c to bring the proper hour indicia'f-d into alignment with the hour hand H. lhe ring 8 can be held in itsadjusted position, by means of its lug 8b, when the disc l is beingadjusted, to prevent accidental displacement of ring 8 by rotation ofdisc I. When disc '5 and the ring 8 have been properly adjusted, thering 9 is set up on the wall i to lock the disc i and ring 55 againstaccidental rotation. After the timepiece has been set, as abovedescribed, the case can be rotated in the ring it? for properorientation of the hour ind. 7d or the minute indicia 8a with the \v'strap 52, as may be desired.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. a timepiece, thecombination or a provided with an interior peripheral flange nd exteriorperipheral flange, on its ends, iespectively; a transparent platemounted on said interior flange; a plate mounted on said exteriorflange, the said plates being so attached to said casing as tohermetically seal said casing; a selfwinding movement mounted in saidcasing, provided with an hour hand and a minute hand so disposed as tobe observable thr ugh said transparent plate; a transparent discrotatably mounted on said transparent plate; and provided with indiciaof the hours; a ring rotatably mounted on said disc, and provided withindicia of the minutes of the hour, the two sets of indicia beingarranged in two circies, respectively, which are concentric with theconcentric arbors of the said hands, the hands being of such length thattheir extremities are disposed adjacent the circles, respectively; aretainer ring threaded on said casing and having an interior peripheralflange confining said rotatable ring and said rotatable disc againstsaid transparent plate to prevent accidental rotation of said ring orsaid disc, when the said retainer ring is set up on said casing; and aspring ring slidably engaged about said casing between the exteriorflange of the cating and the said retainer ring, said spring ring havingmeans for securing a wrist strap thereto.

2. In a timepiece, the combination of a casing having a closed end andan open end; a transparent plate mounted on said open end, the saidplate being attached to the said casing as to hermetically seal saidcasing; a self-winding movement mounted in said casing, and providedwith an hour hand and a minute hand so disposed as to be observablethrough said transparent plate; a transparent circular member rotatablymounted on said transparent plate and provided with indicia of hours, acircular member rotatably mounted on said transparent circular memberand provided with indicia of minutes of the hour, the two sets ofindicia being arranged in two circles, respectively, which areconcentric with an hour with the concentric arbors of said hands, theextremities of said hands disposed adjacent the said circlesrespectively; a retainer ring engaging said casing and releasablyconfining said rotatable circular members against said transparent plateto prevent accidental rotation of said rotatable circular members whensaid retainer ring is in releasably fixed engagement with said casing.

In timepiece, the combination of a casing having a closed end and anopened end; a trans parent plate mounted on said opened end, the saidplate being attached to the said casing as to hermetically seal saidcasing; a selfwvinding movement mounted in said casing, and providedhand and a minute hand so disposed as to be observable through saidtransparent plate; a transparent circular member rotatably mounted onsaid transparent plate and provided with indicia of hours, a circularmember rotatably mounted on sai transparent circular member and providedwith indicia of the minutes or" the hour, the tr: sets of indicia beingarranged in two circles, respectively, which are concentric with theconcentric arbors of said hands, the extremities of said hands disposedadjacent the said circles respectively; a retainer ring engaging saidcasing and releasably confining said rotatable circular meml ers againstsaid transparent plate to prevent accidental rotation of said rotatablecircular members when said retainer ring is in tight engagement withsaid casing, the periphery of said casing being provided with aresilient band for supporting said casing in rotatable relationship,said resilient band being adapted to receive a wrist strap.

LEO H. BROWN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 262,513 Trenor Aug. 8, 1882271,030 Brun Jan. 23, 1883 410,370 Moeckel Sept. 3, 1889 1,576,120Harwood Mar. 9, 1926 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 2,775 GreatBritain Feb. 3, 1913 827,064 France Jan. 18, 1938

